Legendary Astronomer Carl Sagan’s Ithaca Sanctuary Fetches $2 Million on Stewart Avenue

The City of Ithaca’s Stewart Avenue is home to numerous residences, but few rival the architectural style, historical significance, or price of one property, previously owned by a prominent science author.

Constructed in 1926 for the oldest honor society at Cornell University, Sphinx Head, the structure at 900 Stewart Avenue was crafted to evoke memories of sandy burial sites and ancient Egyptian monarchs.

Over the years, it changed ownership, ultimately being acquired by Cornell physicist Robert Wilson in 1978.

In 1981, Wilson sold the residence to celebrated scientist Carl Sagan and his spouse, Ann Druyan.

Druyan continues to live in Ithaca’s Cayuga Heights area, situated north of the Stewart Avenue house, but on Nov. 26, 2024 – 18 years after Sagan passed away from pneumonia while battling bone cancer in late 1996 – she sold their former residence for $2 million – nearly 3.5 times its assessed value of $585,000.

The purchaser, as noted in Tompkins County Clerk records, is an LLC based in Owego sharing the same address as Upstate Shredding and Weitsman Recycling, owned by Adam Weitsman.

Weitsman did not respond promptly to a request for comment on Friday.

He intends to refurbish the building in a historically accurate manner and enhance the surrounding landscaping according to various reports. For years, he has shown interest in the property, engaging with numerous local brokers to inquire about its market status, as it remained unoccupied for nearly two decades.

Background on Sagan: Why could his house command such a high price?

Carl Sagan investigated the potential for extraterrestrial existence – life on other worlds – and became famous for his memorable quotes that continue to inspire astronomers today.

Sagan was a foundational figure in Cornell’s scientific community for much of his lifetime and co-founded The Planetary Society, a nonprofit organization boasting 100,000 members, making it the largest space-interest group globally.

He achieved recognition as a distinguished astronomer, author, and host of the renowned PBS series “Cosmos.”

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Sagan’s book titled “Cosmos” achieved status as a New York Times Best Seller for 70 weeks.

After Sagan’s passing in 1996, Ithaca’s Sciencenter established the Sagan Planet Walk in the astronomer’s honor, a 1.2 kilometer model of the Solar System scaled at 1 to 5 billion, extending through downtown Ithaca.

The Sagan family continues to make an enduring impact in Ithaca. Carl Sagan’s daughter, Sasha Sagan, returned to the city in April to commemorate a solar eclipse and discuss the connection between science and spirituality.

Much of Sasha Sagan’s recent efforts concentrate on the rituals and traditions humans employ to mark the passage of time and natural cycles, encompassing life and death.

She elaborates on the cosmic phenomena behind these rituals in a video by Big Think, available here and in her publication “For Small Creatures Such as We.”